Under the mistletoe
by FugitiveJuliana
Summary: Max is sad because she has to spend Christmas without Logan. Alec sets on a mission to cheer her up. Will he succeed?
1. Chapter 1

He could tell she was tired. She was always tired these days. At first, he couldn't figure it out. It was December and things around TC were relatively slow, they had a few heists to get some medicine and food and a few new blankets. But other than that, there wasn't much to take care of. And yet Max was staying late at the office practically every day, and every morning she was already there when he woke up.

It took him a week and a visit to Gem's to realize what was going on. Mole asked him to drop something at Gem's for her baby and he was feeling Christmassy already so he obliged. With the way things were going at TC, how they were making a home for themselves and with a barely there signs of the public easing up on them, he was looking forward to the holidays. It would be his first Christmas since he was free of Manticore. And he wanted to make it memorable. He'd already stolen a few bottles of champagne on their last heist and he was hoping he could get one of those artificial Christmas trees for his room. But so far he hadn't had any luck with that or the decorations.

The door at Gem's place was open for a crack and he lifted his hand to knock when he heard Max's voice. He was surprised to find her here. There was also Gem's voice and Dalton's. The kid was constantly at Gem's, Alec suspected he fell in love with the loud, annoying baby.

Dalton was laughing and he could hear some rustling of paper and something else being moved around.

"Perfect," Gem said.

All went quiet then, until he heard Max sigh. "I wish …" She went quiet until Gem said, "What?"

There was another pause before Max spoke again. "I wish I could decorate my place too, but I don't have the time to make the decorations and with the place so untidy it would be impossible to see them anyway."

"You could decorate the HQs. Dalton and a few others could help make the decorations."

Max snorted and Alec could vividly imagine her expression.

"Sure, that would definitely make Alec's day. Or week. He'd tease me because of it forever. No, definitely not."

The last moment he suppressed a sigh. He was again the reason for her problems. Somehow this made him feel even worse because she felt she couldn't enjoy Christmas because of him. It made him pissed that she could think this of him. Before he even really thought about it, he decided to do something to surprise her and make her see he wasn't the jerk she thought him to be.

He tiptoed a few paces away and then walked loudly back to the door and knocked. Gem opened the door further.

"Hey," he greeted her and he saw Max wince when she saw who it was.

He pretended to be surprised at seeing her there. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I was just leaving," she said, but he knew she was lying when he saw her mug was still full of hot tea.

"Mole's sending this," he handed the package to Gem.

"Thanks. Want some tea?" Gem offered when she put the package on the makeshift bed.

"Thanks, I could use something hot," he said and rubbed his hands together. He was wearing a t-shirt, two sweaters and a jacket. Heating was not one of the advantages of TC and he was freezing pretty much 24/7.

He thought he'd heard Max mumble 'wuss'.

"Yeah well, I may be a transgenic, but I'm not a polar bear."

She made a face at him and he flashed her a grin. "What's up, Maxie?"

She obviously didn't think he deserved an answer. Gem returned with another mug and Alec leaned onto the wall by the door. He noticed Gem's place was already decorated for the holidays, albeit with homemade paper decorations and garlands. The room was so small it looked cluttered with all the stuff on the walls and the ceiling. Dalton was just putting up a tree, made of cardboard and paper and painted green. He guessed that was the rustling he'd heard in front of the door.

"Nice," Alec snickered.

Max threw him a nasty look. He shrugged. "What?"

Gem grinned. "He wants to make my baby's first Christmas memorable." Her voice expressed a mixture of amusement and fondness.

"We could decorate the HQ's," Alec said to Max just to tease her. But she averted her eyes and didn't say anything. He noticed Gem's glance towards Max, however.

Max obviously wasn't in the mood to put up with him as she soon got up from the chair and left the place. Alec followed soon after her.

It was on his way home that evening that he decided on what to do. He knew it was better not to tell Max that he knows how she feels. He would surprise her. Women liked surprises and no matter how extraordinary Max was, she was a woman.

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The next morning Alec got up early. He felt half dead walking towards the HQs but he didn't have a choice if he wanted to get there before Max. He couldn't get a tree so fast, but he managed to convince Mole to sell him some Christmas lights. They were now stuffed in his jacket pocket as he rubbed his hands, climbing the stairs to Max's office. Few people were around at this hour and Max's office was still dark. Thank God, he thought. He opened the door and sneaked in. He turned on the lights and walked to the wall behind Max's desk. He wanted to place the lights on that wall, then he changed his mind. It would be better if she could see them at all times, even when she sat behind her desk. So he stepped to the opposite wall and took off the map of TC that hung there. He rolled it and placed it in a corner.

He pulled the lights and some tacks out of his pocket and started working. When he was done, the lights formed a tree on the wall. He plugged them into the nearest socked and stepped back to admire his work.

"Perfect," he decided. Step one was finished.

He turned around the place to check whether he'd left any traces and then walked out satisfied.

He deliberately waited a few hours before he stopped by in her office to see her reaction to the decoration.

Without knocking he barged in, ignoring the lights in the form of a tree as if he knew nothing about it.

Max was behind her desk, her head low over the papers.

"Hey, Maxie," he said cheerfully.

She lifted her eyes and said, "Hey." Her voice sounded exhausted. She looked exhausted.

"Everything okay?" he asked worried.

"Yeah. Why?" Her brow furrowed.

"Nothing, just asking."

"Hey, Max."

They both looked to the door when they heard Dalton speak.

"Dalton, come on in," Max said and her face lit up.

Alec felt disappointed when he realized her face never lit up when she saw him, if anything she usually became even sadder or more annoyed, or more depressed. It just wasn't fair. Who helped her run TC? Who did all the dirty, difficult jobs around here? Who was her partner in crime? No, it wasn't fair.

"Gem says you can come over when you finish. She made a cake today and she wants you to try it," Dalton said.

"What about me? Can't I try the cake?" Alec asked insulted.

Dalton looked at him perplexed and embarrassed. He shrugged. "Gem only said Max."

"Not fair," Alec grumbled.

"Don't be such a baby," Max rolled her eyes.

Dalton already turned to leave when Max called him back. "Hey, Dalton? Thanks for the Christmas lights. They look nice."

"Huh?" Dalton eyed her befuddled.

Alec snickered but didn't say anything. He noticed Max's surprise when she realized Dalton didn't know what she was talking about. She pointed to the wall. "Didn't you put them up?"

Dalton looked and then shook his head. "No, it wasn't me." His surprise was so genuine she must've known he wasn't pretending.

"Oh."

For a second, Alec thought he should tell her, but then he thought better of it. She wouldn't believe him anyway.

"I'll go then," Dalton said.

"Ok. Thanks for stopping by. I probably won't have time to go to Gem's though."

"She'll be disappointed."

Max smiled. "I'll try my best."

The door closed after the boy and Alec stood watching his commander. She suddenly seemed tiny in that chair of hers, behind the desk full of stacks of paper. He suspected she had deliberately put them there to give the impression of being busy.

She ignored him and returned to her work.

He wanted to find out why this Christmas thing was upsetting her so much she was willing to work extra hours just so she could avoid any holiday activities.

"So, what are you doing for Christmas? Going to Logan's?"

The second she looked at him, he knew he had said the wrong thing. So Logan was the problem, huh?

"No, I'll be staying here. I have tons of paperwork to finish …"

"What paperwork? The whole month's been pretty quiet and we wrote the reports every day, there shouldn't be much work left these few more days till New Year."

"If you don't see it, it doesn't mean there is no work." He knew she was trying to get rid of him by being mean to him.

"Logan going out of town?" he tried again.

She stopped writing and placed her hands on the desk top. She looked straight at him and said, "He's celebrating with Asha and some friends of hers because they have nowhere else to go." He could see she was trying to sound like she was okay with it, like she admired Logan for being such a good friend, but she failed miserably. He'd known her for a while now and he could read her like an open book. She was hurt and disappointed.

"Hm."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said annoyed.

He shrugged. "Nothing, nothing at all. It just surprised me, that's all. I figured he'd want to be with you."

"Well, he doesn't. Besides, Christmas is a family holiday and we're not exactly family."

He didn't know what else to say. Obviously she wouldn't want any kind of consolation from him.

"By the way, I'll finish the paperwork, you go see Gem," he said as he walked to her desk and grabbed one of the stacks of paper.

"Wha- No, I can do it," she tried to take the papers back.

"No, I insist. Gem will be insulted if you don't come. Save a piece of the cake for me, will ya?" He grinned at her and walked out the door with the heap of papers under his arm. All the way to his office he was wondering what on earth got into him to deliberately take on more work when he didn't feel like working at all.

He sighed. Well, at least Max would get a deserved break. He just hoped she wouldn't find something else to work on as an excuse not to leave her office.

He worked most of the night, finally, close to three he filled in the last form and put it onto the 'finished' pile. He didn't have the energy to walk home, he dosed off in the chair, head propped onto his forearms on the desk.

He woke up when he heard the door open. He was instantly alert, a habit Manticore had hammered too deeply into his head to get rid of it.

"Alec? Did you fall asleep behind your desk?" Max asked incredulously. Everyone at TC knew how he liked his beauty sleep.

He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes. "Must've dosed off. But I finished your reports," he announced proudly.

She didn't look thrilled as he'd expected her to be.

"Something wrong? Was Gem's cake good?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was fine. I saw Mole on the way here …" Max started. "He said you bought some Christmas lights from him and that he saw you sneaking into my office yesterday morning." She looked at him suspiciously.

Damn Lizard, Alec thought, didn't he know when to keep his trap shut?

"It wasn't Dalton who put the lights onto the wall, was it? It was you," she accused him.

He didn't know whether to admit or deny it. Nothing would make much difference, anyway.

"You didn't have to," she continued unperturbed and none too thankful. "Now I can't even look at the map when I need it and it's such a bother unrolling it on the desk."

He couldn't believe his ears. Couldn't she show at least some appreciation for his effort?

"Gee, Max, don't strain yourself with your gratitude," he grumbled.

For a second he thought she looked contrite, but then her mask of annoyance was back in place. "I'm just saying … it's not very practical for an office to decorate it just because it's Christmas."

"Aren't you a regular Scrooge," he complained. "What's wrong with some Christmas cheer? Do you have to be in such a bad mood all the time?"

"I have no reason not to be," she retorted and was already at the door when Alec said, "What if I give you a reason?"

She stopped but didn't turn to him. For a frantic moment he wondered what he talking about, what he was getting himself into. But when she finally looked at him, his face was again composed and he was grinning.

"If you're thinking some dirty …"

He interrupted her before she could finish. "Nothing dirty, just good old Christmas spirit."

"No!" she insisted. "No Christmas. I don't want anything even remotely like Christmas!"

She left the room and closed the door with a bang.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec let his head drop back down into his hands and cursed in a whisper. He had known he should've kept his mouth shut and not get involved in this. Why was he even trying to solve the mess Logan had created? He didn't owe it to him.

Well, yeah … but he did owe it to Max. She had always been there when his ass needed saving. The least he could do was return the favor. Only, he was far better going on heists to get supplies or get rid of enemies, he was worthless when it came to personal stuff. And he had no idea what to do to make a girl happy for Christmas, this was his first Christmas outside after all.

He decided to go to Gem and ask her for advice when he realized this was beyond his expertise.

Once he got some sleep and had a quick lunch, he turned up on Gem's door. She was surprised to see him again.

"What brings you here?"

"I need advice." He pushed his hands in his pockets, rocking on the balls of his feet.

It was obvious his reply surprised her more than a little, but she stepped aside and let him in.

"What can I help you with?" she asked doubtfully.

Alec hesitated for a second before he replied. "It's Max."

"Something happened to her?" she asked worried.

He shook his head. "No, it's just … she's been feeling so down lately and she's working too much."

Gem stared at him, trying to guess what he was getting at.

"I just want her to relax a bit, you know. It's Christmas and all. But she just doesn't seem to be all that into holidays, so I don't really know how to cheer her up. I was hoping you could suggest something …"

He hoped he didn't look as awkward as he felt.

"Oh!"

She started pacing the room, thinking about his words.

"You're a girl and you'll know better what to do … I'd probably just get myself into trouble if I tried anything …"

She grinned at his words. "Probably."

"Did you have any ideas? Anything at all?" she asked after a while.

He shrugged. "Not really. I put up some Christmas lights in her office but she didn't seem to appreciate it all that much," he made a face.

"Oh, so it was you then. Dalton told me about that," she added when she saw his expression. She thought for a second, then she said, "You know, maybe she just didn't want to admit that she liked it. She's a bit touchy that way. She thinks she has to be tough and all that, so she too often forgets her own enjoyment."

"You think that she liked them?" he asked. When he heard his own hopeful voice he cringed inside. He sounded like a lovesick puppy.

But Gem didn't seem to notice his discomfort. "How about a cake? She liked the one I made yesterday. I could make another one for Christmas and you'd give it to her."

He didn't know how he felt about that. It didn't feel right for Gem to make it and then pretend it was his gift. Not because he'd feel particularly bad about Gem working and him taking the credit, but he just knew Max would figure it out and get pissed at him.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll think about it."

He took off soon afterwards and the whole way to his place he deliberated whether he dared make a cake himself. If he succeeded Max would simply _have_ to be proud of him. Seriously, she couldn't get pissed if he made her a _cake_, could she?

Now, the only problem was, he'd never even tried making one. Moreover, he'd never even thought about making one.

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Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Alec was nervously pacing the hallway in front of Gem's place. He'd come to her to ask her to help him make the cake, but she wasn't home. He decided to wait for her, this was too important to postpone it.

He'd seen Max this morning coming out of her office. He suspected she slept there because her clothes looked all crumpled. She was tired and pale, even her beautiful hair seemed to have lost some of its shine. His heart ached when he watched her like this. At first he'd took this 'mission' of his more as a joke, to try and cheer her up. But he was beginning to realize it was far more serious than that. He was desperate to make her happy again, even if that meant he'd have to go get Logan and drag him here. Just to see her crack a smile, or even just to see her get back to her usual bitchy self. Because he had to admit it, he'd miss it, her spunk. He couldn't watch her so sad anymore. It broke his heart and that was something he tried to avoid at all cost because this aching reminded him of other feelings he preferred to keep hidden.

"Hey, Alec."

He jumped at the voice. He'd been so deep in thoughts he didn't hear Gem coming.

"Hey, me again."

"The cake?" she grinned, knowing precisely why he was here.

"Yeah," he said awkward. This was so stupid. He had exceptional skills, strength, speed and all that; but he couldn't make a simple cake. Stupid, stupid!

"Come on in," she said and opened the door. She was wearing a robe, she was obviously returning from the showers down the hall.

"If it's a bad time …"

"No, it's okay. Come in."

Reluctantly he entered into her room. He saw the baby sleeping on the bed and reminded himself to speak quietly so as not to wake her.

"So, want me to make it for you?" Gem asked.

When she didn't keep her voice down he glanced at the baby. "Won't she wake up?"

"Don't worry, she sleeps like the dead," Gem chuckled.

"Oh," he was relieved. He really didn't want the little devil wake up and start screaming her head off.

"I was thinking … Could you just make that thing … in the cake, you know …"

"Thing?" Gem was confused.

"Yeah, the … dough or something, you know, the firm parts of the cake." He felt like the stupidest person alive.

"Oh, the layers!" Gem laughed.

"Yes, that's it. If you could make that and I could decorate it myself? Like with chocolate … I just don't want, you know, to give Max _your_ cake."

"Sure, no problem. Even less work for me."

He cleared his throat, he didn't know what to say, this was beyond ridiculous. Why couldn't he have thought of something else and not a cake? He could've bought her new parts for her bike.

"Hey, she'll appreciate your effort," Gem said when she saw his worried expression.

"How do you know? She wasn't too thrilled with the lights."

"Like I said, she thinks she needs to be tough and cool. Give her some time. With Logan deserting her like that, it's hard for her. Even harder than usually."

He nodded and lowered his eyes. "I know. I just doubt she'll appreciate it coming from me, you know. She'd much rather be with Logan and get the cake from him."

Gem was silent for a long moment, before she said, "Well, maybe the cake won't be a surprise only for her. Maybe you'll get a surprise too."

He didn't understand but she didn't say anything more. Instead she asked him when he needed the layers to be finished and he told her he thought of making it that evening to give it to Max on Christmas Eve.

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When he left Gem's he walked towards the HQs. The place was bustling with people, some were putting up decorations, others were just joking around, talking, drinking something which looked suspiciously like Mole's homebrew.

He heard Joshua's voice through Max's office door.

"That's not funny, Joshua. Take it down," he heard Max protest. What was going on? When did Joshua ever do anything against Max's wishes?

"Not funny, serious business. Traditional," the dog-man replied. Huh?

Alec opened the door without knocking and he nearly crashed into Max. They were both shocked at the surprise. Alec could hear Joshua chuckle somewhere in the background. He became confused when he saw the look of panic on Max's face. What on earth was going on?

"Kiss! Kiss!" Joshua chanted.

He was completely befuddled until he followed Max's glance upwards. Mistletoe.

They both jumped apart at the same instant. Alec was certain his expression must've reflected Max's panic.

"Not right!" Joshua complained. "You must kiss, otherwise bad luck."

"That's just a superstition," Max scoffed and looked away from Alec. She was embarrassed, but not more than him.

He reminded himself to knock next time. Joshua kept springing these surprises on them. You could never know what he'd come up with next. Sometimes it almost seemed like he considered himself a matchmaker and was intent on getting them together. The dog-man had some seriously whack ideas, Alec thought.

"Don't be foolish, buddy. Mistletoe is for kiddies and girls," Alec grinned at Josh, trying to forget the awkwardness of the moment.

"Hey, girl here!" Max protested and pointed to herself.

"Sorry," Alec shrugged. "I'm trying to ignore your sex and just see you as our commander. Otherwise you'd yell at me for being sexist."

She grumbled something unintelligible and walked back to the door now that Alec moved into the room and it was safe again to stand under the mistletoe. She stepped onto the tips of her toes but she still couldn't reach the sprig of green on the ceiling.

"Dammit, Joshua!" she said annoyed when she couldn't remove it.

"Here, let me get that," Alec offered while Joshua observed them amused.

They made sure that Max walked all the way back to her desk before Alec stepped towards the door and pulled the mistletoe from where it hung above the door.

"Problem solved!" he said proudly, showing the sprig to Max.

"You two are no fun," Joshua complained and walked out the door. Despite themselves, Max and Alec started laughing at his sour face.

When they stopped, they stared awkwardly at each other. They didn't know what to say.

"Hm, okay, I'll just go … talk to Joshua," Alec finally suggested, forgetting what it had been that he came here for in the first place.

"You do that. I think we upset him," Max agreed, regretting already how she reacted at Joshua's idea of the mistletoe. It wouldn't be that hard to kiss someone for fun, to make big fella happy. Besides, it was just Alec. He'd understand it was only to satisfy Joshua and not … something else.

Don't even go there, she scolded herself when Alec left and closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

He tried to forget the incident the whole day. Joshua refused to talk to him when he found him in his room. He was sulking and even Alec's explanation and apology didn't help. He kept repeating, "Max sad."

"I know!" Alec replied, miffed by just how much that fact influenced his life lately. "But you can't make it all better by trying to force her to kiss me," he reasoned. Although, on second thought, that might help … Nah, she'd just get pissed at him.

"Max likes Alec," Joshua insisted.

"Of course she does, I'm her SIC, but she loves Logan. You can't change that by a simple mistletoe sprig." Although life would be much easier if he could.

Alec rubbed his forehead. This was becoming too much for him.

"Logan sucks," Joshua said sincerely.

"You're right about that." Alec sighed and left Joshua still sulking.

He then spent the entire afternoon making the cake. Gem stopped by and brought him the layers. She asked whether he needed any help decorating it, but he insisted he wanted to finish it himself.

He'd had some chocolate in his cupboard and was now decorating the cake with it. Everything he touched became sticky, his kitchen looked like a mushy bomb had exploded in it after only ten minutes of work. He wiped his hands in a towel when he went in search of a knife to try and smoothen out the top layer of the chocolate. Just as he returned to the table, someone knocked on his door. He panicked. He didn't know what to do and while he was deciding on whether to hide the cake or simply hold the door closed, Max entered into the room.

"Shit!" he mumbled and squared his shoulders in front of the table to hide the cake behind him. Then he noticed he was still holding the huge knife in his hand. He put it behind his back without moving his eyes from Max's shocked face.

"What are you doing?" she asked appalled when she saw the destruction in his kitchen. Every surface seemed to be smeared with something, there was a heap of towels on the counter and Alec had a brown streak on his chin.

"Nothing." Lame.

"Think I'm stupid? You're up to something, I can tell by the devastation you've caused to this poor kitchen."

She moved forward and he moved with her to block her view.

"Alec!"

"Get out," he said and flinched when she glared at him. He nearly chuckled when he thought she looked like a sprite with her hands on her hips, glaring and so small in front of him.

"Alec, I'm warning you! This will have consequences. What are you doing?" she demanded and quickly moved to the left to try and get a peek behind his back. But he was faster.

"Please, Max. I'm not up to anything, could you just trust me this once."

He could tell that she was surprised by that 'please', but she still didn't relent.

"Come on, tell me. It can't be that bad."

"Max, get out before I'm forced to hurt you," he threatened, but it sounded lame even to him.

"Please," she snorted.

She turned back to the door like she'd heard someone there and that split second was all she needed. When his eyes followed hers, she was already by his side, peeking around his tall frame.

"Alec? What's this?"

Alec grumbled, mad at himself for not locking the door, mad at her for being so curious.

"It's a cake," he mumbled when she eyed him perplexed.

"I can't hear you."

"A cake, it's a frigging cake."

She looked from him to the heap of chocolate on the table. "Hmmm, I wouldn't have guessed it."

"Haha!"

"Who's it for? Or have you suddenly turned a sweet-tooth?"

She was grinning now and he was mortified. But she misread his expression.

"Oh, it's for a girl!"

"No!" he exclaimed. "I mean, yes. No … well …"

She furrowed her brow. "So which one is it: yes or no?"

He lifted his hands in the air in defeat. "It's for you," he mumbled.

"Huh?" She either didn't hear him or … Oh, she heard him alright, at least if her shock was any indication.

"Me?"

He shrugged. "I wanted to cheer you up … and it was supposed to be a surprise but since you came barging in here …"

She swallowed hard. "For me," she repeated, staring at the cake like she forgot Alec was still right there beside her.

"You were so down lately and I thought, even though you insisted you wanted nothing Christmassy, that some chocolate cake could cheer you up."

"So you made a cake?" she asked astounded. "For me?"

"Well …" he fidgeted with his chocolate smeared t-shirt. "Gem made the layers and I wanted to decorate it, but I guess that's harder than I thought and I pretty much ruined it." He shrugged.

"You can't ruin something that's filled with chocolate," she smiled. "Let's eat it."

He looked surprised at her. "You … wanna eat it?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to do with it? It's my cake, after all, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I thought … I mean, it looks more like a heap of … I'm not gonna even say it …"

"Yeah, better stop talking and give me a fork."

He turned and walked to the drawer, a small smile gracing his face when he realized she was pretty cool about it. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

He handed her a fork and grabbed one himself. They started eating, but after the first bite they looked at each other. There was something wrong with the taste. Max made a brave face and swallowed.

"It's … good."

Alec took another bite. "No, it's not."

"Yeah, you're right," Max agreed when she swallowed again with difficulty. "What did you put in here?"

He shrugged. "Chocolate. You can't go wrong with chocolate, right?"

She tried to force herself to eat some more, then she looked at him suspiciously. "How long have you had that chocolate?"

"How should I know? A few months?"

"Maybe it has gone off," she speculated.

"You think?"

"Something must've been wrong with it because this doesn't taste like chocolate."

Alec went to search through the trash to find the wrapper of the chocolate. When he checked the date when it expired, he realized it was six months ago.

"Dammit!"

He heard Max giggle behind his back.

"I'm so sorry. This was supposed to be a nice surprise and I ruined everything."

She looked at him with a calm gaze. "Don't they say it's the thought that counts?"

He had to admit, she was taking it pretty well. Otherwise she'd be jumping down his throat already or kicking his ass, but she was being more than nice considering he messed up again.

"Sorry," he repeated. He really felt bad about ruining it all.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled when she walked to the door. "I'm … grateful you thought of me. Thanks."

She was acting so differently than her usual self that he didn't even know how to reply. By the time he figured it out, she was already out the door.

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The morning of Christmas Eve he had to take the last reports from that week to Max's office.

She actually smiled when she looked up. He was so unprepared for it, his step faltered at the door.

"Morning."

"I brought you the last bunch of reports," he said when he didn't know how else to react. She wasn't scowling. At all. Christmas spirits must have kidnapped her, for sure, that was the only explanation.

He placed the papers on the edge of the desk, wary to go too close to her. She scared him when she was nice to him. It never bode good.

When he turned to leave, she said, "You know … that cake yesterday, it was really good."

"No, it wasn't."

"Well, yeah, not for the stomach." She lowered her eyes and paused for a moment before she went on. "But it made me realize that Christmas doesn't have to be bad even if I'm alone, you know. I don't have to stop myself from feeling the cheer."

The thought that he actually accomplished his mission overwhelmed him. He didn't think it would be so easy, particularly since he'd failed at everything he tried.

"That's … good. Besides, you're not alone. You're just without Logan and there's a difference. You still have Joshua, your family. As screwed-up as they are."

He avoided including himself into that group because he didn't want to spoil her good mood.

And she noticed it. She watched him, her gaze curious. "And you, right? You are part of the family."

He cleared his throat. "I guess."

She didn't say anything else till he reached the door.

"Alec?"

He turned back to her. He was anxious t get out, this soft Max was scaring the wits out of him. He didn't know how to deal with her.

"When you said that you only see me as your commander, were you being serious? I'm just curious," she added hastily when she thought he might misinterpret.

"Well, when you're acting as my commander, yes, I do."

"And at other times?"

Did she have to put him on the spot like this? Didn't she have any mercy?

"Will you kick my ass if I say no?"

She chuckled, it was a genuine laugh. When was the last time Logan made her laugh? Alec was scoring so many points lately it just didn't seem possible.

"No, I won't kick your ass."

Her face looked beautiful when she smiled, there was no strain there, no sadness anymore. She looked like a different person, like an ordinary girl. Like a girl he'd chat up if he'd met her at a bar.

Uh-oh, don't go there, Alec.

"See you later," he said before he disappeared through the door. He better beat it before he says something stupid and completely out of line. Usually, he had her scowling and complaining to measure what he could say and what he couldn't, but ever since that cake yesterday she was acting completely out of character and that confused him. He was afraid that without the limits her bitchiness usually imposed on him, he would overstep the line, make something stupid and irrevocable and make the situation worse. Because for all he knew, she was nice to him just so he would feel her spitefulness more severely when she decided she hated him again.

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By the evening he was decided. What use was all that champagne he'd stolen if he couldn't drink it with a friend? He was a bit nervous when he came to Max's door. He hadn't planned this so he wasn't entirely sure how to proceed. For a split second, when he knocked, he wished he hadn't come. But once the door opened it was too late.

"Oh, it's you," Max said when she saw him. He could read the disappointment, she had been hoping against hope that it was Logan.

"Yup, unfortunately, it's just me," he said and surprisingly he felt a stab of pain at the thought that he wasn't what she'd hoped for. "I was kinda hoping you'd drink some champagne with me. You know, Christmas Eve and all that jazz."

"Isn't champagne more like a New Year's Eve thing?" she furrowed her brow as she moved aside to let him in. She was wrapped in a blanket, her place was no warmer than the rest of TC.

"Yeah," he grinned sheepishly, "but I stole too many bottles for just one night."

She scowled at him.

"Come on, Maxie, have a drink with me." He offered her his brightest smile.

"Ok, but just so you won't say I'm a killjoy," she grudgingly agreed.

"Great!"

He noticed her place was in a mess, just like he'd heard her say at Gem's place the other day. Her clothes were everywhere, shoes on the floor, plates on the couch. No wonder, with the time she'd been spending in her office, he doubted she even had a moment to enjoy a proper shower. A drink would do her good.

"Have you got any glasses for this?"

"Sure." She went to the kitchenette and rummaged through her cupboard till she found two similar glasses.

"This is the best you can do?"

"Can you do better?" she scowled at him.

He grinned at her and walked to the couch. He put an empty plate to the ground and pushed some clothes to the side. He picked up a black bra and dangled it in front of Max.

"Lace, nice. I can just see you …"

"Don't even think about it," she threatened.

"It's hard not to," he mumbled as he sat down and placed the two glasses onto the crate that functioned as a coffee table. Max soon joined him, making place for herself on the couch and wrapping the blanket more tightly around herself.

"This'll warm you up," Alec promised as he handed her the glass.

She took it and waited for him to toast.

"You say something," Alec said.

She thought for a second. "To surprises and friendships."

"To surprises and friendships," he agreed as they clinked the glasses.

He stared at her face as she made a sip and then searched for the TV remote. She seemed oblivious to his perusal until she suddenly faced him.

"What?"

He was taken aback and didn't know what to say. "Nothing."

"Then stop staring at me."

"I'm just …" He stopped.

"What?" this time her voice sounded less annoyed.

"Glad that you're back to your bitchy self."

She cracked a smile. "Aren't you afraid I'll kick your ass?"

"Yeah, but you and my ass mentioned in the same sentence makes me all tingly," he grinned.

She wanted to hit his shoulder but he caught her fist and pulled her to him.

"No fighting, it's Christmas," he chuckled and hugged her around her shoulders.

"Feeling any warmer yet?"

"A bit," she grumbled.

She searched the channels and finally found something that looked like a decent movie. They watched it in silence. Alec had difficulty following the story, his thoughts kept returning to Max and Logan and Max without Logan and that mistletoe and everything else from the past few days. He was confused but in a non-frustrating way. He had a feeling this confusion was good because it meant that he had several options. It was just a matter of courage to choose amongst them.

When he again concentrated on the screen, he was left speechless. He'd been completely unaware that there was a full nudity sex scene going on just a few yards from him. His jaw dropped, he couldn't believe his eyes. It would be perfectly okay if it weren't for Max sitting next to him. He could feel her go rigid from awkwardness.

Thankfully, the scene was over and the movie continued with less delicate story lines. He nearly fell asleep by the time the movie ended. Max moving by his side woke him.

"Is it finished?"

"You fell asleep?" she asked appalled. "Men!"

"What? It wasn't all that interesting."

"It was a good movie, except … for a few parts."

He chuckled when he saw her cheeks turn rosy. It looked cute on her. It made her less rough and more girly. Suddenly he felt the urge …

"I know there's no mistletoe here …" he started. Max stopped moving, she sat perfectly still, looking at him. Her gaze scared him a bit, but it was too late to stop.

"And I know you _will_ kick my ass after this …" his voice became soft as he leaned closer to her, giving her the option to stop him, to move away. But she didn't move, her eyes flicked to his lips and back to his green eyes, she looked almost frightened.

He kissed her slowly and softly at first. His eyes closed when he felt her warm lips press against his. There was only a hint of a response from her. He pulled back to look in her face.

Her eyes were huge, dark, unreadable.

"Max …" He didn't know whether to ask her if she was okay or to apologize. But she didn't let him finish, anyway.

She kissed him. There was nothing soft about it, nothing tender. She was demanding and passionate. Overwhelming. When she pulled back, he was breathless from amazement.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered and he didn't have time to reply when she pushed him back into the couch till she was lying atop of him. He didn't protest when her mouth found his lips again. He closed his eyes and made a promise to himself that from now on he'd celebrate Christmas every year with a religious fervor.

THE END


End file.
